Something Else to Think About
by mesmerizedbyceruleaneyes
Summary: It's Yunoki's birthday, but he doesn't like it. Hihara drags him out to the park to 'celebrate'. What cookies, kisses and charity fundraising have to do with each other is beyond them. YunokiXHihara mild shounenai.


Diversion Something Else to Think About

Yunoki sighed softly to himself. Getting lectured by his grandmother first thing in the morning wasn't exactly something he liked to start his day with. What was more, it wasn't just _any_ day. It was his _birthday_, for gods' sake. His _birthday_. And it just _happened_ to be one of the not-so-good days. No wonder he was sighing.

School was the same as usual, since having gifts falling out of his locker and spilling from under his desk was already something he'd gotten used to. The amount was greater than usual, of course, since half of the school – or more – knew Yunoki Azuma's birthday by heart.

Somehow he got through the day, though, and the final bell rang to signal the end of school. Letting out a breath of relief, he began to pack his things. At that moment, all he wanted to do lock himself in his room with some medicine for the migraine he knew was coming.

"Yu-no-ki," said someone. Turning, he got a close-up of Hihara's wide, cheery grin. "You going to celebrate your birthday now?" inquired his best friend, seating himself on the table across the aisle.

The longhaired boy gave him a meaningful look. "No. You know well that even my family doesn't celebrate for me." It was an effort to keep the bitterness from creeping into his voice. The additional "I'm only their third son, after all – I'm not important enough to warrant a celebration" didn't need to be said. Hihara knew.

Every year, Hihara would ask him whether he would celebrate his birthday. And every year, Yunoki would give him a negative answer.

The year before, Hihara had half-jokingly asked him whether it felt strange that most of the people who celebrated his birthday were people Yunoki probably wouldn't give a damn about. Yunoki had smiled – falsely – without commenting.

As usual, Hihara ignored the dismal undertones in Yunoki's words, instead jumping to his feet again. "So you're free right? Let's go out then!"

Yunoki blinked. "Pardon?"

"I heard that the second-years are at the park to do some kind of fundraising," explained the other boy. "Kaho-chan and the others will be there! Let's go see them, ne?"

Biting back the malicious "You only want to go and see Kahoko; it's nothing to do with me" that bubbled up his throat, Yunoki nodded. It wasn't Hihara's fault that he has such an uncaring family, and he was also rather interested to see how his friend would act in his crush's presence.

"Great! You're done packing, aren't you? Off we go then!" Hihara, with his usual enthusiasm, all but dragged Yunoki out of the school.

--

"Ah! Kaho-chan!" exclaimed Hihara, pointing out the booth where the said girl was. Putting on his brightest grin, he bounded towards her, shouting, "_Kaho-chan_!"

Yunoki watched him go, shaking his head in a combination of amusement and pity. Even after being plainly rejected by the girl – though she had been quite unwilling to say it and had apologized innumerable times afterwards – he still persisted.

Some people might have called that noble, selfless, the epitome of 'true love'. Yunoki called it pathetic. All Hihara was doing was clinging to the tiniest hope that Kahoko would relent – a hope that dwindled every passing day, helped along by the rumors of her apparent date with Tsuchiura and alleged love letters to Tsukimori. Neither had a very high possibility of being true, but Hihara was obviously shaken by them.

He shook off his musings, coming to a decision. Hihara definitely needed something else to think about. Yunoki would provide it.

Making his way towards the booth (where Hihara was presently munching on some kind of pastry), he put on his smile to greet the girls there. "Konnichiwa, Kahoko."

"Ah, Yunoki-sempai! I didn't see you!" she cried. "Eto, ano, did you come with Hihara-sempai?"

Liar, thought the boy. Hihara would've told her. But all he said was, "What are you selling?"

"Cookies," answered Kahoko. "We –"

"We made them ourselves!" proclaimed one of the other girls. Yunoki decided not to bother trying to place her. "Mio's mom taught us and let us use her kitchen –"

"Hush," Kahoko quickly stopped her friend's senseless babbling. "Ano, I'm really sorry, Yunoki-sempai. She really didn't mean anything by it, but sorry –"

It seemed that Kahoko was quite wary of her two sempais. Hihara, for obvious reasons. Yunoki… perhaps she thought Yunoki planned revenge on her for hurting his best friend, being one of the few who knew his unpredictable bipolar moods. Whatever the case, she appeared to be trying to keep from annoying him in any way.

That girl… she was interesting, or she used to be. But silly she was, had been and probably always would be. As if he would be thoughtless enough to try anything here.

Yunoki kept his poker face. "Cookies, ne? How is business?"

"Not… very… good," mumbled Kahoko. "Hihara-sempai's the only one who bought so far."

The boy glanced at the said cookies. They didn't look especially appetizing.

"They're really great!" Hihara assured her. "I'd buy more, but I'm out of money – Oh! Yunoki!"

"Yes…?" Yunoki looked at his friend in mild confusion.

"Your fangirls followed you here," the other boy informed him.

An all-too-familiar cry of "_Yunoki-sama_!" rang out from behind him, as if on cue. The longhaired boy restrained himself from rubbing his temples. Was there no peace for the wicked?

"This is good!" declared Hihara. "You can help Kaho-chan and her friends to advertise!"

"… And how, might I know?" he asked slowly. Inwardly, though, he debated whether this dog food disguised as human cookies should ever be distributed among civilized people.

The glint in Hihara's eyes was quite uncharacteristic. He really should've taken notice of that. "You agree to help?"

Good Lord, he had a strong feeling he was going to regret this… but since it was Hihara… "I… suppose I could."

"Marvellous! Now to get our potential customers' attention." Raising his voice, he announced, "Buy more than ten cookies and you get a free kiss on the cheek from Yunoki Azuma-kun! All proceeds go to charity!"

Yunoki's eyes widened. "_What_?!"

--

"Ano, I'm sorry, but there is really no more," apologized Kahoko. "The previous customer bought all that was left."

A throng of females shooting death glares at one particular person was quite a sight, decided Yunoki absently. The relief he'd felt at the end of school was nothing – _nothing_ – compared to what he felt now. He unobtrusively tried to scrape off the powder, blusher, and who-knows-what other makeup from his mouth.

"Never again," he muttered, just loud enough for Hihara (who was standing beside him) to hear. "Never, _ever_ again. Understand?"

The boy laughed. "Now, don't say that. If we ever do fundraising ourselves, we need this kind of thing as a trump card." Noticing his friend's efforts to detoxify himself, Hihara grinned. "Need help there?"

Sudden inspiration flooded his mind. Glancing at Hihara, he smiled – or perhaps smirked. "Perhaps I do." Without warning, Yunoki gripped his friend's shoulders and kissed him full on the lips.

Hihara froze, eyes wide and pupils dilated. Ignoring the screams and gasps from the aforementioned females, Yunoki pulled him closer. After a few seconds, Hihara relaxed, and Yunoki allowed himself a satisfied smirk as he broke the kiss.

Their surroundings were deathly silent. The majority of the fangirls had fainted, or pretended to have fainted. Everyone else who retained consciousness was taking their time to gather their jaws from the ground.

"So… what was that for?" ventured Hihara.

Yunoki weighed the possible answers he could give. His friend didn't seem shocked or angry, nor did he look afraid. Just curious and a little surprised.

Well, he might as well be straightforward. "You needed something else to think about," said Yunoki bluntly. "Let's go." He quickly guided his friend out of the scene.

--

Thank heaven for sea breezes, thought Yunoki as he leaned on the rail of the road on the hill that overlooked the beach. Shaking out his long hair so that the wind could run through it, he admired the sunset.

Beside him, Hihara took a deep breath of the slightly salty air. "This is always the best."

Yunoki nodded. After a long day, he and Hihara often stopped here on their way home to watch the sun go down. It always had a calming effect on him; now was no different.

"Ne, Yunoki?" began Hihara.

Yunoki didn't look at him. "Yes?"

"Happy birthday." Even without looking, Yunoki knew that his friend was smiling.

"You already said that this morning." That wasn't the point, and both of them knew it – he was just saying it with nothing better to say. They lapsed back into silence.

After a while, Hihara spoke again. "Ne, Yunoki?"

"Yes?" This time, Yunoki turned to his friend.

Hihara met his gaze squarely. "Thanks. You did give me something else to think about."

"It's no problem," replied the other boy. Once again they both fell silent.

The sun had almost disappeared beneath the waves; stars could already be seen. Yunoki savored the last rays of light, slitting his eyes to stare straight at the sliver of burning orange still visible.

"Ne, Yunoki…" This time it wasn't a question, but the boy glanced at his friend anyway.

Hihara seemed to have moved closer – their sleeves were brushing against each other. He smiled, but unlike his normal enthusiastic smile, this one looked unsure. "Can you call me Kazuki?"

Yunoki smiled – a genuine smile. "Sure… Kazuki."

--

**A/N: … OMG. I suck. OOCness much?! –dies– I haven't watched La Corda for ages, so the characterization is… cringeworthy. T.T**

**Anyways, this is a birthday fic for Yunoki Azuma! I can't believe I got it up in time XD And as you would have noticed already, it's shounenai – my protest against the sad, sad lack of boylove in this fandom. YunokiXHihara is an awesome pairing. **

**Please review!**


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